Chapter One
by Baxter Fish
Summary: This is just a little thing I've been wanting to do for a while. Thanks Danielle for getting me set up!


Hello dear readers,

I am brand new at this kind of thing, so you're gonna need to cut me some slack. I will write to the best of my ability, please leave comments and reviews to the best of yours, thank you. I love hearing back from you guys, so let me know how I'm doing! Remember, the more reviews you leave, the faster I will finish my next chapter.

Courtesy of,

Baxter Fish.

Normal conversation: Text will look like this.

_Normal thought: Text will look like this._

**Demon/summon/mysterious character conversation: Text will look like this.**

_**Demon/summon/mysterious character thought: Text will look like this.**_

Hinata stood behind a pillar, watching Naruto walk by.

He marched into the Ichiraku Ramen across the seat and she saw his feet as he sat on one of the stools. The drapes covered everything but his legs.

Several hours later, Naruto left the shop.

_He will stretch right away, walk past me, enter his apartment, then go to sleep,_ Hinata thought. She had watched this pattern several times, and it had never varied yet.

Then Naruto stopped, stretched, and continued walking toward Hinata.

Then Hinata sneezed, a polite little sneeze.

But Naruto had heard it. He stopped, and looked toward Hinata.

Hinata covered her mouth, to ensure nothing embarassing slipped out.

Naruto walked over to her.

"H-h-h-hi, N-N-Naruto!" she spluttered.

Naruto gave her a funny look.

"Hi, Hinata," he returned the greeting.

She looked at the ground, it was as if there was a weight tied to her forhead.

_I messed it up,_ she thought sadly.

"Well," Naruto yawned, "I'm off to bed! See you around!"

He ran to his place, ensuring he was extra tired for the night to come.

Hinata hung her head and headed off toward the Hyuga Clan residence.

She lay down in her comfortable bed, thinking about Naruto.

As sleep lolled over her, she thought about how she would be more confident someday, like Naruto.

A squad of Anbu ran through the forest, chasing one of the Raijin brothers, Fuujin. Two glowing green eyes watched from the cover of an oak tree.

_**They will catch up soon, if there are no other problems**_**.**

The figure watched as three of five Anbu ran by the tree that concealed him.

Another one passed by.

Finally the one bringing up the rear came into his view.

He timed an amazing jump onto the Anbu's back, sliding a kunai across the man's throat at the same time.

Even before he had time to bleed on the pathway, the person tossed him into the bushes.

_**One down, four to go...**_ he thought, jumping into the trees.

Hinata awoke the next morning in a good mood, but with a feeling that it would be an interesting day.

It turns out she was right.

Right after she got out of the shower and dressed, her father came knocked on her door.

"E-enter!" Hinata called.

He father opened the door, and got straight to the point.

"The Hokage wants you for a mission," he reported.

"O-oh," she exclaimed, "Okay."

She went down to the Hokage's office, and saw that her whole team was there.

"H-hi, Kiba. Hi, Shino."

"Hey Hinata!" Kiba called back energetically.

Shino nodded, but remained silent.

"Where's s-sensei?" she asked.

"I will be your sensei today," a gruff voice came from a man leaning on a wall.

"W-where's Kurenai-Sensei?" Hinata asked.

"For all it matters to you," the man sneered, getting close to Hinata's face. "She's dead."

Hinata gasped.

Kiba got in the man's face.

"You have no right to scare her like that!" he yelled.

"Silence all of you!" exclaimed the Hokage, walking in.

The man sneered and turned away from the group.

"What I want you to do, is find the Anbu scout team I sent out yesterday. This is a 'D' rank mission, because all you have to do is retrace their steps. Which is why I want you, Hinata," the Hokage explained.

"B-..."

"Neji is out on another mission right now," the Hokage answered her question before she could even start.

"Oh," she looked down.

"Now, there won't be any danger in this mission because you are only out to scout, not to act. I want to know what is taking my Anbu so long, and I didn't want to send another team for such a simple cause."

"And you think WE'RE not above that?" the man asked.

"No," the Hokage replied. "I don't think you're above that."

The man snorted and led the team out the doors.

At the village gates, the man looked around with a hand up to block out the sun.

"Alright, it looks like the trail leads this way," the man said, pointing to where Fuujin had crashed through the trees.

"B-but, s-sir," Hinata objected, immediately wishing she hadn't.

"What?" he growled, turning around.

Hinata shook.

"U-u-umm, er, that is... I, um, if the Anbu ran into p-problems along that route, wouldn't it b-be a bad idea for us t-to follow their exact course, s-sir?" She stuttered.

He rolled his eyes in impatience.

"Noo, because the Anbu didn't run into problems, they just went farther than expected," he said snottily.

She winced as if he had struck her.

"Isn't that right?" he growled, knowing she wouldn't object.

"Y-yes, s-sir!"

Kiba growled, he hated how this man was treating Hinata.

They ran along the path of broken trees for a while until they got to a point where Kiba smelled something.

"Guys, I smell blood!" he said, stopping on the path.

"Rediculus!" the man snorted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is YOUR nose better?" Kiba challenged.

The man had heard of Kiba's attuned sense of smell, so he did not continue the banter.

"Alright, girl, use Byakugan to find where the 'blood' is," the man intoned the word blood as if he was mocking Kiba.

"Byakugan!" she said, the ancient bloodline allowing her to see all around her.

She gasped and shrieked.

"What?!" Kiba yelled, on all fours, completely alert.

She pointed a quivering finger to the bushes in front of her.

He stepped around them quietly and jumped on whatever had made Hinata gasp.

"Hey, 'Sensei'," Kiba called, mocking the man's title. "Come take a look at this and tell me I didn't smell blood."

The man walked over and saw the dead Anbu.

"We should leave now," Kiba said, "Fuujin couldn't have done this, he was running the whole time, that means there is another person in this equation."

"Well, let's find out who it is!" said the man forcefully, not willing to accept the child's suggestion, although he had been thinking it himself.

"We should head back, there is active danger in this mission!" Kiba argued.

"We are ninja, we'll be fine!" he stressed 'ninja' teasingly. Then he played a card he had been holding back a while. "Or are you 'scared'?" he pouted his lip on 'scared'.

Kiba growled.

"I am NOT scared!" he said, continuing to run along the path.

"Well?!" the man growled at Hinata. "Are you coming?"

"Y-y-yes, s-s-sir!" she shook.

They continued running until they saw a bleeding Anbu on the path.

"You guys stay hidden!" he ordered, and the three ninjas took to the trees.

He was breathing hard.

Their sensei ran up to him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We were running along..." he took a deep breath. "...A-and this ninja came from nowhere, striking us down one by one..." another breath, then steady. "He was so cool," the Anbu said darkly, his eyes shinining ruefully.

And before the man could even raise an eyebrow the 'wounded' Anbu had stuck the kunai he had been concealing right into the man's temple.

The three hidden ninjas gasped in shock.

The fake Anbu took off his disguise and threw in into the bushes.

The man was wearing all-black attire, with a flowing black cape.

He retraced the steps the group had taken, running back toward the village.

Hinata looked at Kiba and Shino.

"We have to stop him!" Kiba suggested, testorone-fuelled and ready to go.

"No!" Hinata objected. "He is much too clever for us, we have to warn the Hokage!"

Kiba nodded at the sensible suggestion.

"When we enter the village, act normal when you see him, just continue toward the Hokage's office," Kiba said. "'Cause he doesn't know we saw him. So we have the advantage of knowledge. He thinks that no one else will be coming for a long while."

Everyone agreed, nodding. They all ran back toward the village.

They stepped onto the main road, and saw the fake Anbu talking to the gate guard.

They casually walked past, giving a normal look-over people do when they see something new.

They turned the corner, and bolted for the Hokage's office.

They ran up the stairs to his office, and entered without knocking.

The Anbu fake was approching the Hokage slowly with a kunai drawn.

The Hokage was currently looking out the window at the peaceful village before him.

"LOOK OUT!!" Kiba cried, and the Hokage spun around to find the black ninja bringing his kunai down upon him. The nin looked determined, and unperturbed.

The Hokage blocked the move with incredible speed and knocked the ninja against the wall.

Not once did the ninja's face reveal his emotions.

He attempted to leave, but the Hokage knocked him out with a lightning fast kick to the head.

The ninja in black attire crashed into the wall, indenting himself into the wall.

He slumped, and the Hokage called for several Anbu.

The Hokage put a hand to his heart, the target the ninja had been aiming to hit.

"Who is this?" the Hokage asked the three standing in the doorway.

"We... we don't know," Kiba panted.

"He must be a skilled assasin to be able to get in without alarming me," the Hokage commented.

The Anbu arrived and took the ninja in their arms.

"Well, we'll find out soon," the Hokage commented, nodding his head toward the Anbu.

"They're going to interrogate him," Shino clarified.

"Yes, and harshly," the Hokage answered. "You don't try to kill the Hokage and walk."

The ninja came to in a dark room with no one in it.

He sat up in the chair and put a hand to his head.

_**Why am I not feeling hair?**_ he asked himself groggily.

He looked down, and noticed he ws tied to the chair.

"What?" he voiced aloud.

"He's awake!" a gruff voice sounded from the wall.

Seven Anbu were restraining him in seconds.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" the ninja exclaimed.

"Oh, there's more to come, if you don't co-operate," said the head Anbu.

"Who are you?!" someone asked gruffly, gripping his hair and pulling backward so his throat was exposed.

"I don't know!" the ninja answered.

"Oh, no, that one won't work with us!" the head Anbu said.

"Who AM I?" the ninja wondered.

He thought hard.

"Catari!" he exclaimed, just before the man hit him.

"Catari, eh?"

"Yes, Catari," Catari replied, as if it was just any social dinner.

"Okay, why were you trying to kill the Hokage?"

"Why would I do that?!" Catari cried.

"Yes, indeed," said the man, belting him hard across the face.

"Ow!" Catari exclaimed, slurred by blood. "What did I do to deserve that?!"

"You tried to kill the Hokage!" yelled the man, swinging at him again.

But his fist only hit the man behind Catari.

"What?!" exclaimed the six men holding him, who collapsed on each other, due to the fact that Catari was no longer there.

"You guys are mean!" Catari exclaimed, standing at the door. He was holding his right cheek, massaging the wounded area.

The seven Anbu went to immediate full-alert.

"Will you sit back down if I don't hit you?" the head Anbu tried.

"Yes, but you must promise not to!" Catari said, slightly childishly.

"Okay, I promise, but will you submit to a memory scan?"

"Whatever," Catari shrugged, sitting down again.

The head Anbu formed a series of seals, and put his fingers to Catari's temples.

He pulled out seconds later, and Catari screamed, collapsing in his own blood.

"I went too far," the man exclaimed. "There was nothing there, the Hokage's kick gave him Amnesia."

The men nodded, rushing Catari to the hospital.

But that Anbu's attempt to get answered opened a door just a crack.

A crack that widened just enough to let Catari's old personality slip through, along with various other absolutely unimportant things.

Catari awoke in a white building with a needle in his arm.

He ripped it out, exclaiming in disgust.

He looked around, and put it together that he was in a hospital.

The nurse walked along the hall, and noticed the covers on one of the patient's beds were displaced.

She walked in.

"Hi!" she exclaimed cheerily.

No response.

"I will be your nurse here!" she called.

She checked her list.

"Ahh, you're Catari! Welcome back from your little 'coma' buddy!" she tilted her head and smiled. "We will be taking care of you for the next few days, your condition was critical, but we managed to stabilize you!"

Then she looked closer at the bed.

_Where's the pillow?_

She tore off the covers, and gasped.

She ran down the stairs faster than she thought was safe.

"What is it, Suzanne?" the receptionist asked before she was even in plain view.

"Catari..." she panted, trying to catch her breath. "He's gone!" she handed the list to the desk clerk.

The clerk's eyes went round.

"We have to find him!!" she cried.

Hinata was walking through the village, enjoying that the village wasn't launched into disarray by the Hokage being dead.

Because he wasn't, they had saved him.

She smiled, and continued walking.

She looked up at the hospital just as a window opened.

A person in all-black attire with a flowing cape jumped up onto the sill.

She looked in shock as he tipped outward.

_That's...!_

She watched as he fell onto the laundry wing.

He jumped from there to the ground and walked among the villagers.

Hinata looked in alarm, but the caped person who had tried to kill the Hokage was looking around the village as if it was some whole new experience.

She walked up to him carefully.

"Hi," he said, walking by her.

She was at a loss for words.

She followed him for a little while, until she lost him.

She saw a frantic nurse, still in her hospital attire, running from house to house, posting up a picture.

Hinata examined one closely and saw it was the face of the ninja she had just seen jump from the hospital window.

It said: "_If you see this person, name Catari, tell him he should return to the local hospital IMMEDIATELY! They were recently involved in a terrible head injury, and need immediate medical care!_"

She looked in alarm at the poster.

_I didn't think the Hokage hit him that har..._ Then she remembered the Hokage's words...

_"They're going to interrogate him," Shino clarified._

_"Yes, and harshly," the Hokage answered. "You don't try to kill the Hokage and walk."_

She ran toward where she last saw him, and caught up with him.

"Catari!" she called.

He turned.

"Are you okay?" she asked conversationally.

"Yeah, my head hurts a little, but I'm good, you?"

"Umm, I-I'm good, thank you," she blushed.

She shook her head, she had forgotten why she had started this conversation.

"Why don't you go see a doctor if your head hurts?" she suggested.

His eyes widened.

"I'm not going back to that 'hospital', if that's what you're suggesting," he said. He made it sound like a hospital was an evil place.

"Hey, Hinata!" an angry voice sounded from the end of the alley.

She shuddered.

"H-hi, N-N-Neji," she tried to keep the atmosphere light.

"I heard you kept saved the Hokage today," he made his voice conversational. "I want to fight you in the Hyuga residence."

Catari stood in the background, absorbing the history of the two from their short conduct.

"O-okay," Hinata said, lowering her head.

He walked away, knowing that victory would be his in the battle that would take place.

Catari spoke up.

"I wish to be your opponent, Neji Hyuga!" Catari called. "I will be taking Hinata's place!"

He laughed.

"You, take me on?" Neji laughed again. "You were just released from the hospi..."

"Scared?" Catari interrupted challengingly. "You're pitiful!"

Neji came in close to Catari.

"I WILL take you on, and it will be in half an hour, so you'd better hurry!"

He walked away.

"Catari, he... he'll k-kill you!" Hinata cried.

"Yeah, but I could tell he'd've killed you too, so I just picked someone else available."

"Y-yourself, though!"

"Yeah," Catari nodded. "Well, I gotta grab a bite to eat, I'm famished," he said.

She was shocked at how at ease he was walking away.

Half an hour later, Catari, Hinata, and Neji arrived at the Hyuga Clan home.

The place was deserted, everyone was out in the village for one reason or another.

"Prepared to be crushed?" Neji laughed.

Catari was silent, but the look he gave Neji was scarier than any taunt.

"Umm... Oh!" Hinata started. "Umm, b-begin!"

Neji ran at Catari, and Catari just stood there.

Catari faked right, and Neji threw a punch there.

"You shouldn't be so fast to make your move," Catari said, landing a pitiful blow on Neji's back.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" Neji laughed.

"No, but it will in a minute," Catari said.

Then the explosive tag he had pinned to Neji exploded.

Neji managed a substitution justu just in time, but realized this wasn't an opponent to be toyed with.

"One-Hundred-Twenty-Eight Palms!" Neji yelled, running at Catari.

Neji's fists seemed to vanish as they attacked Catari with lightning speed.

But Neji didn't even land a hit on him.

Catari seemed to be surprised of that fact too, but Neji was too busy to notice.

Neji stopped after the one hundred-twenty-eighth blow, panting.

"How did you dodge all my hits?" he asked.

"Does a magician reveal his secrets?" Catari asked.

Neji grunted.

Catari walked off the field.

"Hey!" Neji called, I wasn't finished yet!"

Catari walked grudgingly back onto the field

"Well, aren't you going to attack me?" Neji challenged.

Catari shrugged.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?!"

"I 'said' nothing."

"You meant it!"

"Did I?"

"GRRRR!"

"Okay, here I come!"

Catari ran at Neji, and tripped.

He cursed.

He was lying with his feet away from Neji, face down in the dirt.

Then he did an backwards flip, launching himself feetfirst into the air, and bringing his feet crashing down on Neji's head.

He stood up, and walked over to Hinata.

He nodded, and bid her a good day.

He left the house, and walked into the Ichiraku Ramen shop.

There was a young boy with an ugly orange 'suit' and spiked yellow hair. He was scarfing down Ramen faster than the workers could make it, and making conversation.

Everyone was smiling, and treating this as if it was a normal routine.

"Hi!" a busy worker said to Catari, "How can we help you?" she asked, serving the boy another bowl of Ramen.

He shook his head in disgust, and then responded.

"I'd like a Miso Ramen," he said.

"Coming... right... up!" she said, whipping up the batch with terrifying speed.

She noticed Catari watching her make Ramen.

"It's a customer's favorite, and he gives us a lot of business, so I can make it the fastest," she boasted.

"Ahh, and that thing over there is the customer you were talking about?"

She laughed.

"Yes, it is," she sighed. "Don't judge him too quick, he's a nice kid."

Catari nodded, and took a seat closer to the boy.

"Hey there!" the boy said, and if Catari didn't have eyes, he would have had no clue the boy had his mouth full of Ramen.

"Hi," Catari said, still impressed/disgusted by this kid's talent.

"Nice to meet you!" the boy said energetically, finishing his bowl. He laid down barely enough money to pay for his check.

"Seeya later!" he said, racing off toward his house.

Catari watched as he stopped, stretched, and finished the rest of the way to his house.

Catari exited the Ramen shop, after finishing a quick bowl of Ramen.

The sky was red, and the clouds looked bloody in the slow sunset.

He spotted Hinata looking at him from behind a pillar halfway between the Ramen shop and Naruto's place.

He walked over.

She blushed and looked at her feet.

He opened his mouth to say hi, when he passed out.

Hinata gasped, and picked up Catari.

She ran to the hospital.

"Nurse!" she called, barely audible in the everyday din of people coming and going.

One of the nurses spotted Catari, and screamed: "SOMEONE FOUND CATARI!!"

Hinata was startled by such a loud voice coming from such a small girl.

Then she realized it was Sakura, and calmed down.

"Hi, Hinata," Sakura said, taking Catari.

"H-hi."

She followed Sakura to the room, but was left outside ER while they worked.

Several hours later, the doctor came out.

"You can see him now," he said, leaving the room.

She walked in, while all the medical staff filed out.

Gloves were thrown in the garbage, tools returned to their places, and doctors to their offices.

"H-hi, Catari," Hinata said shyly, almost scared she'd hurt him if she was too loud.

He groaned.

"I don't want..." he ripped an IV out of his arm. "To be here!"

He struggled to stand and she watched in shock.

"C-Catari, I r-realy d-don't think this is a good idea," Hinata said.

"I'm fine, I don't need the hospital's help!" Catari said.

Hinata watched in horror as Catari left the room.

She followed him in protest of his actions.

Sakura was wheeling a tray with a patient on it when she caught Catari in the halls, and yelled at Hinata.

"WHY AREN'T YOU STOPPING HIM?!" she yelled, "I CAN'T, I'M BUSY RIGHT NOW!!"

Hinata cringed, and Catari walked up to Sakura.

"Quit yelling at her!" Catari ordered, a fiery look in his eyes.

She backed off, intimidated by his stare.

"Th-th-th-th-thanks, C-Catari," Hinata trembled.

Catari put an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Hinata, she's just a loudmouth, I can tell just from the minimal amount of interactions I've had with her," Catari said.

_Wow, he just got fixed up for the second time, and he's comforting me,_ Hinata thought.

Hinata walked him to a room, and he sat down on the bed.

She could see he was tense though, all the tendons in his neck were tight.

And with the hospital gown on, she could see his arms, and they were rippling with muscle, even though they were small.

"Do you think I'm short?" Catari asked, flopping back on the bed.

Catari's question spurred her out of her daydream.

"Umm, no."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah, I don't think you're sh-short," she said shyly.

"C'mon, I'm five four," he said, propping himself on an elbow.

She giggled.

"Well, I think I should get some sleep," Catari said.

"Okay," Hinata said, leaving the room.

Catari lay down and closed his eyes, and sleep came surprisingly fast.

Hinata was walking home when she felt a chill.

She smiled when she thought of Catari putting his arm around her shoulders.

She momentairily thought of Naruto.

_He always thought I was weird anyway,_ she reasoned. _Besides,_ she giggled quietly, _Catari's buffed!_

Catari awoke the next morning feeling stiff and sore.

_Shouldn't I be well rested after a good night's sleep?_

He looked up to see Hinata sitting on the edge of his bed, stroking a rose in a pretty vase.

"Who's that for?" Catari asked jokingly.

Hinata started, and dropped the vase.

The pretty vase fell towards the floor in slow motion.

Catari extended a hand toward it not knowing why, and the vase stopped moving.

He raised his arm, and the vase raised.

"What?" Catari said, looking at his own arm. "It appears I'm psychic."

Hinata took the vase out of the air.

She looked in the vase and said: "Why isn't the water even rippling?"

"And why is the stem of the rose crushed?" Catari asked. "And what time is it?"

"It's four o'clock," Hinata replied shyly. "I hadn't meant to wake you."

"You didn't," Catari said.

Hinata put a hand to her mouth and giggled, "Y-you can put your a-arm down now."

"Oh, right!" Catari said, lowering his arm.

The water rippled, and the stem of the plant filled out again.

"That's weird," Catari commented, "It's almost as if I was controlling the water."

Catari put an arm out, and thought of lifting some water out of the vase.

A disk of water lifted from the glass.

"Whoa!" Catari said, a smile twitching at the edges of his lips.

Hinata watched in shocked amazement.

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay?" Catari looked toward Hinata. "I don't know why, just don't."

Hinata nodded vigorously.

"S-sure," she said, "O-of course."

He let the water fall back into the vase.

"I'm gonna try this out at the spa, it's too steamed up for anyone to see anything there!" Catari said, jumping out of bed.

"But, Catari," she fought to say the words. "You have to stay here!"

"Nawww, I'm fine!" he said, jumping out the window.

She sighed and followed him.

When they got to the spa, they saw it was having an "All-gender bath day"

"Great, that means that only couples will be here!" Catari said happily. "And they're gonna be much more interested in each other than us!"

"Y-y-you m-mean you w-want me to c-come in w-with you?" Hinata stuttered.

"We're not gonna be NAKED!" Catari laughed.

He walked into the men's changeroom.

Hinata went to the girl's change room.

She entered the hot spring, and she was sure her face was redder than the rose she had given Catari earlier.

She could barely see four feet in front of her face.

_Wow, Catari was right, it is a great place to se what he can do._

All of a sudden, something jumped out of the water behind her and held onto her back.

She screamed as loud as she could.

The thing let go.

"It's just me, Hinata-kun!" Catari laughed.

"Y-y-y-you sc-cared me, Catari kun!" she shivered dispite the heat.

"No way?" Catari laughed sarcastically, "When did this happen?"

She laughed and got her breathing back to normal.

"Let's find a spot near the centre, not too close to corners or walls, that's where 'lovers' will be," Catari suggested.

"But then we'll be in plain sight!" Hinata argued.

"No," Catari said, backing away. "You can't see me and I am only six steps away."

Hinata walked forward.

One step, two steps, three steps, four.

"No, y-you're only F-F-FOUR steps away," she laughed.

"Well six of MY steps," he said, blushing. Apparantly he was self-conscious about his height.

She giggled.

"ANYWAYS...!" Catari said, annoyed. He looked downward, examining the swirling water heated by the volcano.

He raised his arms and they dripped hot water.

"Lets see if I can raise a square," Catari said.

He lifted his arms, and thought of the water rising in the shape of a cube.

A cube of water rose unwillingly from the rest of the pond.

"This takes a lot of effort!" Catari said, a sweat drop dripping from his brow, of course, that could also be from the temperature around him.

He let it drop back into the water.

"Hey I wonder if I can change the temperature..." Catari thought about how he would do that.

He raised a blob of water with no specific shape, and thought about it freezing.

The water churned and churned in its little shape.

Catari focused hard on the water becoming solid.

The edges of the water started to crystalize, but because it was still moving and rippling, they were whisked away unnoticed.

Hinata touched the water.

"Brrr!" she shivered.

"Is it really that cold?!" Catari yelled excitedly. In his excitment he let the water fall, which was on himself.

"HOLY..." Catari continued to curse and shout.

He slipped under the water and stayed there for several minutes.

His head poked up, but only to his eyes.

"H-h-h-holy sm-m-m-mokes! That s-t-t-tuff W-W-W-WAS c-c-c-cold!" he exclaimed.

"I didn't think it was quite T-THAT cold," Hinata said.

"W-w-w-well it w-w-was!"

"It appears you're sensitive to the cold!" a loud voice said, approching them.

In the blink of an eye, Catari did a roundhouse kick, catching the person in the gut.

He prepared to kick them hard in the face when a winded voice exclaimed, "Hey what was that for?!"

"You snuck up on me, it was instinctional to kick," Catari replied coldly.

"Well I was only here in time to hear you shouting," the man replied.

"Oh, h-h-h-hi Jiraya," Hinata said.

"Hey, Hinata!" Jiraya returned the greeting. "Who's your friend?"

Before Hinata could answer, Catari cut in.

"Nothing you need to know, beat it!" he said dangerously.

"You can't tell ME to beat it! I'm one of the legendary..."

His speech was cut off by a kick to the groin that would have impressed Chuck Norris.

"Alright," he said in a voice higher than a mouse's, "I'm going!"

Catari saw the figure hobbling off, holding his more sensitive parts.

Hinata didn't want to say anything, Catari had been very unnerved by the man's presence, and she had nothing against that.

Catari raised a cube of water, and tried hard to freeze it.

He made sure it was NOT above himself, and continued to freeze.

The block eventually froze in midair.

He made it come toward him, and he touched it.

He shivered, but he did not want Hinata to think he couldn't handle it.

He took it out of the air, and tried to act nonchalant.

"Y-y-yeah, w-when it's i-i-ice, i-it's a l-l-lot h-harder to control," Catari said.

"Are you sure you should do this, your body doesn't seem to like the cold," Hinata asked worriedly.

"N-n-n-n-n-naw," Catari stuttered. "I-I-I-I c-c-c-can ta-t-t-take it!"

He held onto the cube for a further half an hour when his fingers were so numb, it slipped out of his hand.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-see?" he was shivering violently, dispite the heat all around him.

"I'm really worried, Catari," Hinata said. "I think you should get some rest."

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-no, I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fine!" Catari tried to laugh, but it came out as a shiver.

"Catari," Hinata said, "I think you sh..."

She was cut off by Catari's eyes rolling up into his head, and him sinking beneath the water.

"Catari?!" she cried.

She dove under the water and picked up his limp body.

"I have t-to get him to someplace warm," she said aloud. "Even warmer than this!"

She rushed him to the hospital, figuring that would be the best place to go.

Sakura was talking to Sasuke at the gate.

She was shuffling her feet and blushing.

Hinata rushed past her.

"OH!!" Sakura exclaimed. "Someone found Catari!"

She ran in, and took Catari from Hinata's arms.

"Thanks!" Sakura said curtly, rushing him to the top floor.

She put him in a bed, and saw that he was shivering.

_I'm tired of you escaping..._ she thought dangerously.

Ten minutes later, Catari awoke.

_Okay, I'm s-still freezing, but not as bad, and I can' move my limbs..._

_WHAT?!_ he thought in alarm. _I can't move my limbs?!_

He tried to lift his head, and saw that he was bound to the bed.

"Oh," he said aloud, upon seeing the ropes. "Whew."

Naruto was walking through the peaceful village.

But the thoughts in his head were not at all peaceful.

See, he had heard that someone had tried to kill the Hokage, and he was mad.

He walked toward the hospital.

_I don't care if he's DYING!!_ he thought furiously, _I'll KILL HIM!!_

He stormed past the front desk, his face alerting the nurse at it.

"I think we need security," she spoke into a secret microphone at the desk.

Naruto looked at the rooming list, and stomped into room thirteen on floor four.

"YOU!!" Naruto yelled, he could feel his anger welling up with everything he saw about this teen.

His hand curled into a fist.

**"Have some of my power, boy, get revenge where it is rightfully owed!"** the Kyuubi inside of him said, riling him up even more.

He tapped into its power, the beast's form engulfing him.

Two tails whipped angrily, and Naruto looked at the sleeping figure with hate in his eyes.

Catari awoke feeling immense Chakra in the room around him.

_What the...?_ he opened his eyes drearily.

He saw a figure bringing two fists down on his bed.

"Aww, SHIT!!" he exclaimed.

The figure was distracted by the shout, so insted of hitting Catari full on, he bore two fist sized shapes through the side of the bed.

_That's a lot of power!_ Catari thought.

Now Catari was trying to get the ropes off himself, looking for something to save him.

_THERE!_ he thought.

He focused hard on the vase sitting on the table beside him.

Even though he couldn't move his arms, the water floated quickly through the air, and froze in the shape of a shield.

Naruto smashed through the thick ice, but it still absorbed his momentum.

He prepared for another blow, when two Anbu grabbed his arms and held them back.

He whipped around, and headbutted one so hard that he smashed the man's skull.

The other was not backing off, but was obviously afraid.

Naruto threw such a fast, hard punch at him, it went right through his heart.

Naruto returned his attention to Catari, who was now untied.

**"YOU!!"** Naruto yelled. **"You tried to kill the Hokage!!"**

Catari knew there was no reasoning with this kid, so he tried to dodge the punch Naruto just threw.

Naruto's fist grazed Catari's hipbone, and he felt it shatter like glass.

He grunted in pain, but focused on the battle.

Catari took a deep breath, breathing in the air, thick with Chakra energy, and blew outward.

A gigantic silver ball of flame engulfed Naruto, who passed out from the heat.

Catari looked in awe at what had happened, then passed out from the pain.

Silver flames licked at the walls as a fire started on the top floor of the hospital.

Baxter Fish.  
Hope you enjoyed!


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